NASA suppresses alarming survey on air safety

It's a red flag parade in this AP article I found over at Yahoo. It seems NASA is hiding survey results that document frightening air safety problems. NASA surveyed about 24,000 pilots over four years, and found that safety problems such as near collisions occur more frequently than expected.

According to the AP, NASA is withholding the results because it is "anxious to avoid upsetting air travelers." What's more, last week, "NASA ordered the contractor that conducted the survey to purge all related data from its computers."

I can't say I'm surprised, but I am angry. Suppressing results that show the airline industry isn't as safe as it should be does no one any good, and it allows the government and airline industry to avoid dealing with what sounds like a very serious problem. You don't want us to be upset, NASA? Then publish those results and let's immediately start addressing the problems. Ignorance isn't bliss when it jeopardizes the well-being of everyday travelers.